Student organizations get together to help Puerto Rico

Student organizations get together to help Puerto Rico. Photo by Megan Anzures.

As everyone was getting ready for the fall break, several student organizations volunteered to raise money to the relief effort in Puerto Rico.

Alpha Phi Omega and other student organizations put on the ‘Lakers to the Sea’ event that raised money to help people in Puerto Rico.

Alpha Phi Omega (APO) puts on an annual open-mic fundraiser for breast cancer. However, this year they decided instead to do a fundraiser for disaster relief in Puerto Rico in light of their current situation. Students could sign up for the open-mic by a signup sheet. Students performed by singing or performing poetry aloud.

APO decorated the Congress Hall to be beach themed and had a cut-out of the planet that people could put their handprint on if they donated.

This year, APO decided to reach out to different student organizations to help create the event. The other organizations that participated were Black Student Union, SPEED and the Blaze.

Usually, APO would’ve hosted the event solo but APO president Rose Vadesch and vice-president and Black Student Union secretary, Chanel Easter, had some connections in different student organizations, it made sense to them to bring everyone together.

Although, the Lakers to the Sea event is APO’s biggest event throughout the year, they are planning on hosting more collaborations with other student organizations such as BSU, Level-up Power-up Club and Alpha Gamma Delta.

“We are trying to do a lot more collaborations this year … just so that we can make student organization presence more known within the university,” said Vadesch.

Easter said it can be very difficult to get other students to participate in school events. By having more student organizations would collaborate, they would able to reach more students.

APO hoped that by collaborating with other student organizations they can “bridge that gap between the students who are involved and students who are very much not involved,” said Easter.

Bradley Modjeski, music education and bass performance major, said that he “doesn’t like getting out much,” but he likes hanging out with people, good food and for a good cause.

APO is a national co-ed service fraternity. They volunteer at many organizations around the city like Ronald McDonald House, Grace Place, Anti-Cruelty Society and the Bank of America Marathons. Vadesch and Easter encouraged all students that are interested, to come and join them on their service events as well as on-campus events.

If you have an interest in joining, you can also reach out to Rose Vadesch, APO president at rbadesch@mail.roosevelt.edu, for any questions about Alpha Phi Omega.